Then I think we reached out to J.J. Abrams at one point when we were really confused in Act III, and he helped us, too. It’s just interesting. Usually you think, in the legacy of filmmakers that come and go, there’s something so evocative about how strange it is that this particular strain of the Marvel universe was so successful, so what are the reasons for that and how do we keep that vital and just have fun?”

Yeah, that was kind of unexpected. I wonder if this means we can expect to see him do a Marvel movie too?
As for the trailer, I thought it was awesome. IMO one of the best trailers I've seen for a movie coming out this year.

Since i already know about the Extremis plot and the multiple armors this is the first time that i see them in action and it's brilliant. Loved the Hulkbuster style armor (if it's indeed a Hulkbuster as opposed to a generic heavy duty combat design) and all the others.. since they began releasing specialized armors in the comics i've always been a fan of them.

Downey Jr. seems to be at the top of the game again, Special Effects are state of the art (of course) but it also seems there will still be a human component to the movie.

The only thing that's bothering me a bit is The Mandarin. In this trailer he comes off as very cheesy (especially with the delivery of that one line) and i fear we may get another rather weak/cheesy villain.

I loved the more recent iteration of the Mandarin in the comics (when i happened to grab one a while ago) that had the Mandarin as more of the chinese counterpart of Stark.. business suit and all that. Hammer in Iron Man 2 could have been that but they wrote him as a buffon so there's that.

Kingsley is an amazing and capable actor so i hope they've written a good role for him.

Additionally i wonder if they will use this movie to start up the alcoholism character aspect of Stark. It seems he's really torn up mentally after the Avengers movie and he always was quite the drink guy in the movies so it would be a good opportunity to lay the groundwork of Iron Man 4 if it will happen (and i guess it will even if Downey gets sick of the role which he's not even hinted at.. he seems to enjoy Tony Stark).

Additionally i wonder if they will use this movie to start up the alcoholism character aspect of Stark. It seems he's really torn up mentally after the Avengers movie and he always was quite the drink guy in the movies so it would be a good opportunity to lay the groundwork of Iron Man 4 if it will happen (and i guess it will even if Downey gets sick of the role which he's not even hinted at.. he seems to enjoy Tony Stark).

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I don't know. I know it's an iconic part of the comics, but I think it's probably TOO serious a topic for a big budget superhero movie to tackle.

Audiences still want to laugh and have fun with this character, and it'll be kind of hard to do that if he's a sad and pathetic drunk lying to everyone around him like Denzel Washington's character in Flight.

Additionally i wonder if they will use this movie to start up the alcoholism character aspect of Stark. It seems he's really torn up mentally after the Avengers movie and he always was quite the drink guy in the movies so it would be a good opportunity to lay the groundwork of Iron Man 4 if it will happen (and i guess it will even if Downey gets sick of the role which he's not even hinted at.. he seems to enjoy Tony Stark).

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I don't know. I know it's an iconic part of the comics, but I think it's probably TOO serious a topic for a big budget superhero movie to tackle.

Audiences still want to laugh and have fun with this character, and it'll be kind of hard to do that if he's a sad and pathetic drunk lying to everyone around him like Denzel Washington's character in Flight.

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Yea my wife, who LOVES the first Iron Man, HATED IM2 just because of the way tony acted when dealing wiht the paladium poisoning and being the drunk jerk at his birthday party.

It probably isn't the case, but the plot seems to be pretty clear from the trailers - Tony's bent out of shape, The Mandarin starts making terrorist attacks, catches Tony with his guard down, beats up on Tony, Tony goes into hiding and creates his Iron Man army, Iron Man army beats The Mandarin.

It probably won't shake down like that as why in the heck would you give away everything in your trailers, but the overall arc seems to be there.

Additionally i wonder if they will use this movie to start up the alcoholism character aspect of Stark. It seems he's really torn up mentally after the Avengers movie and he always was quite the drink guy in the movies so it would be a good opportunity to lay the groundwork of Iron Man 4 if it will happen (and i guess it will even if Downey gets sick of the role which he's not even hinted at.. he seems to enjoy Tony Stark).

Click to expand...

I don't know. I know it's an iconic part of the comics, but I think it's probably TOO serious a topic for a big budget superhero movie to tackle.

Audiences still want to laugh and have fun with this character, and it'll be kind of hard to do that if he's a sad and pathetic drunk lying to everyone around him like Denzel Washington's character in Flight.

Click to expand...

Yea my wife, who LOVES the first Iron Man, HATED IM2 just because of the way tony acted when dealing wiht the paladium poisoning and being the drunk jerk at his birthday party.

Click to expand...

But given that it's a hero movie the script will surely call for Tony to get rid of it(sober up/realize his mistake just in time to win the final battle.

Now i don't expect a hardcore treatise on alcoholism ala Leaving Las Vegas but it would be a good way to "burden" Tony with another obstacle to overcome. Of course that depends on how IM3 plays out and if Tony overcomes his anxiety and mental problems (which i guess he will).

Still would be a fine nod to the comics and a good way to show that our hero can overcome any obstacle (and i found drunk Tony Stark hilarious.. the guy is a party animal when he's sober so imagine him drunk ).

The other day they showed some members of the press 20 minutes of footage, followed by interviews with Shane Black, RDJ, and Kevin Feige. IGN article.
The most interesting tidbits:

When the attack begins Tony uses a new device to summon the armor, but then puts it on Pepper.
Maya Hansen is at the house during the attack.
Aldrich Kilian works for the Mandarin, who makes Bin Landen style taped speeches.

Feige and Black also talked a bit about the Mandarin's back story:

Kevin Feige via IGN said:

“It wasn’t until Shane that there was the idea that sort of cracked, that allowed him to be an entity that is recognizable right off the bat and is frightening and fearful in a very ripped-from-the-headlines Osama bin Laden kind of way. At the same time, he spun it in a new way -- and the example that Shane always uses -- that the cinephiles among you will know, is Marlon Brando’s character in Apocalypse Now. Colonel Kurtz was a guy who’s gone off the reservation, who’s incorporating all these different symbols and iconography into his world view.”

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Shane Black via IGN said:

Yeah, [Mandarin] has an intelligence background. His nationality is not even clear because he’s shrouded in secrecy, but at some point this field officer went nuts and became a student of warfare and ancient Chinese symbology and drew from South American insurgency tactics and has created around himself this little world of warfare. The only unifying principal of which seems to be a hatred of the United States. So he represents every terrorist, in a way. But specifically, he’s crafted himself in the manner of the Mandarin, of a warlord. I think that’s great, because you get to do the comic book, but you don’t have to deal with the specifics of Fu Manchu stereotyping. We’re not saying he’s Chinese, we’re saying that he in fact draws a cloak around him of Chinese symbols and dragons because it represents his obsession with Sun Tzu and various ancient arts of warfare that he has studied. So that’s what we like about it.”

Additionally i wonder if they will use this movie to start up the alcoholism character aspect of Stark. It seems he's really torn up mentally after the Avengers movie and he always was quite the drink guy in the movies so it would be a good opportunity to lay the groundwork of Iron Man 4 if it will happen (and i guess it will even if Downey gets sick of the role which he's not even hinted at.. he seems to enjoy Tony Stark).

Click to expand...

I don't know. I know it's an iconic part of the comics, but I think it's probably TOO serious a topic for a big budget superhero movie to tackle.

Audiences still want to laugh and have fun with this character, and it'll be kind of hard to do that if he's a sad and pathetic drunk lying to everyone around him like Denzel Washington's character in Flight.

Click to expand...

Yea my wife, who LOVES the first Iron Man, HATED IM2 just because of the way tony acted when dealing wiht the paladium poisoning and being the drunk jerk at his birthday party.

Click to expand...

Eh? That's what makes Iron Man different from all the other superheroes. He's a self-destructive egomaniacal fuckup who also happens to be a charismatic hero. Takes a particular type of actor to pull off a role like that and not alienate the audience, but they got an actor like that, why waste him on a vanilla role? Tell Padme she's missing the whole point of the character.

The trailer looks brilliant. I like Kingsley's quirky delivery and the scene of the attack on Tony's place is so Shane Black (shades of Lethal Weapon). Plus the tonnes of action helped!

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I caught the Lethal Weapon 2 vibe as well. It would be even more obvious if, in one scene, Rhodie is nearly killed by a bomb attached to his toilet. But something tells me that wouldn't mesh with the dark tone they seem to be going for here.